Books on creative website design

Standout Designs for the Web

With millions upon millions of digital products and websites vying for peoples’ attention, custom, and loyalty, why do so many look so similar? Why, wherever you are, whichever industry, whatever topic, are websites so obviously cast from the same mould? In this forthcoming book, you’ll learn why standing out matters and how to use inspiration from other media to make your designs stand out.

Coming 2024–25

Art Direction for the Web

Smashing Magazine 2019.
ISBN: 9-78-3-945749-76-0. 344 pages.
DRM-free ePUB, Kindle, PDF.

Modern web technologies have made it possible for us to implement print-style designs, and the web’s now full of tutorials on how to use them. But the most important question is not “how” we can use these techniques to improve designs for the web, but “when” and “why?” Based on my experience, plus the expertise of art directors and designers I interviewed. I explore the work of influential art directors to understand it and learn how to apply that knowledge to the web.

“Real-world and fictional layouts highlight key points and are fantastic examples of what the web can be with great art direction. The author goes a step further by jumping right into key CSS properties and methods that make print-type/traditional layouts possible for the web.”

Ian Welling. Goodreads

or

Hardboiled Web Design
Fifth Anniversary Edition

Smashing Magazine 2015.
ISBN: 978-3-945749-37-1. 441 pages.
DRM-free ePUB, Kindle, PDF.

Frustrated by how designers were being held back by the notion that their designs should look the same in even the least capable browsers, I wrote Hardboiled Web Design in 2010. It was incredibly well received, so in 2015 I updated its content for an all new Hardboiled Web Design: Fifth Anniversary Edition.

“This book is one of the best in modern day web development. Hardboiled Web Design isn’t about making your website pretty or pixel perfect, but about making it stand the test of time while using tomorrow’s standards today. ”

Tri Ahmad Irfan. Goodreads

Hardboiled Web Design

Five Simple Steps 2010.
ISBN: 978-1907828003. 420 pages.

Frustrated by how designers were being held back by the notion that their designs should look the same in even the least capable browsers.

“As usual, Andy provides not just trend-setting theories but the practical examples that will make any designer perform just as they should in the age of empowered web technologies. Awesome stuff.”

Jason Hando. Goodreads

No longer available.
Reviews on Goodreads.

Transcending CSS Revisited

Stuff & Nonsense Ltd. 2019.
ISBN 978-1-9162534-0-7.
DRM-free ePUB, Kindle, PDF.

I felt it was time to revisit Transcending CSS to examine the approaches we took and the tools we used at the start of the web standards revolution. In Transcending CSS Revisited, I’ve also added a commentary where I explain what’s changed since the original book and how we should work today.

“I’ve read other reviews of this book that describe it as career-changing and that really was true in my case. I’ve spent the past four months reading anything and everything I can about CSS because the doors that Andy Clarke opens in Transcending CSS are just too cool to close.”

Chris. Goodreads

or

Transcending CSS (original)

New Riders Press 2006.
ISBN-10: 0321410971. ISBN-13: 978-0321410979

I wrote Transcending CSS, my first full-length book, in 2006, because I wanted to explain the possibilities of CSS and HTML in ways which would appeal to creative web professionals. I had no idea about the impact this book would have on my career and the careers of many other people.

“This book will be quoted and hoarded by web designers. It has gained worldwide recognition by being translated into five different languages, possibly making it one of the top, if not the most, read web design book to date. If you’re a web designer, not reading this book is not an option.”

Charles. Goodreads

No longer available.
Reviews on Goodreads.